Averaged aggregate governance indicators

What does this indicator tell us?

The World Bank Institute defines governance as the traditions and institutions by which authority in a country is exercised. This includes the process by which governments are selected, monitored and replaced; the capacity of the government to effectively formulate and implement sound policies; and the respect of the citizens and state for the institutions that govern economic and social interactions among them. The world governance indicators measure six broad definitions of governance, capturing the key elements of this definition:

• voice and accountability - the extent to which a country's citizens are able to participate in selecting their government, as well as freedom of expression, freedom of association and free media;
• political stability and absence of violence or terrorism - the likelihood that the government will be destabilized by unconstitutional or violent means, including terrorism;
• effectiveness - the quality of public services, the capacity of the civil service and its independence from political pressures, and the quality of policy formulation;
• regulatory quality - the ability of the government to provide sound policies and regulations that both enable and promote private sector development;
• rule of law - the extent to which agents have confidence in and abide by the rules of society, including the quality of contract enforcement and property rights, the effectiveness of police and the courts, and the likelihood of crime and violence; and
• control of corruption - the extent to which public power is exercised for private gain, including both petty and grand forms of corruption, as well as "capture" of the state by elites and private interests.

How is it defined?

The averaged aggregate governance indicators in the NLiS country profiles represent the aggregated average of the six world governance indicators. The indicators represent the views of thousands of stakeholders worldwide, including respondents to household and company surveys, experts from nongovernmental organizations, public sector agencies and providers of commercial business information. The NLiS averaged aggregate governance indicators are calculated from the average of the z scores (a measure of SD away from the mean) of the six world governance indicators. Each of the six indicators are expressed as standard normal units, ranging from around -2.5 to 2.5. The higher the score a country has, the better the assessment it has received regarding the six governance elements.

What are the consequences and implications?

Policy-makers, civil society groups, aid donors and scholars worldwide increasingly agree that good governance affects development. This consensus has emerged from a proliferation of empirical measures of institutional quality and governance, the investment climate and research (World Bank Institute, 2009).

For nutrition, the importance of good governance is reflected in the UNICEF conceptual framework of factors in the "control and management of resources influenced by political and ideological structures in society" (Jonsson, 1995). Reports from the UNSCN show how a nutrition perspective can help to improve governance. Good governance is also recognized by countries themselves as an essential factor for sustained economic growth, sustainable development, eradication of poverty and hunger, and the realization of all human rights, including the right to adequate food.

Source of data

World Bank. Worldwide governance indicators (http://www.govindicators.org).

Further reading

FAO. Voluntary guidelines to support the progressive realization of the right to adequate food in the context of national food security. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; 2004 (http://www.fao.org/3/a-y7937e.pdf).

The World Bank. Governance Matters 2009: Worldwide Governance Indicators 1996-2008. Washington (DC): World Bank Institute; 2009 (http://info.worldbank.org/governance/wgi/pdf/WBI_GovInd.pdf).

Jonsson U. Towards an improved strategy for nutrition surveillance. Food and Nutrition Bulletin. 1995:16.

UNSCN. Fifth report on the world nutrition situation: nutrition for improved development outcomes. Geneva: United Nations Standing Committee on Nutrition; 2004 (http://www.unscn.org/layout/modules/resources/files/rwns5.pdf).

Kaufmann D, Kraay A, Mastruzzi M. The worldwide governance indicators: methodology and analytical issues. World Bank policy research working paper no. 5430. Washington (DC): World Bank; 2010 (http://ssrn.com/abstract=1682130).